L2 encryption is designed for data running across a WAN backbone. SafeNet acquired the technology when it bought Cylink Corp in 2002. The Ethernet version joins SONET/SDH, ATM, Frame Relay and Serial Link in the L2 portfolio, as well as the company’s IPsec and SSL offerings higher up the OSI stack.
Andy Solterbeck, general manager of SafeNet’s data protection business unit, said the company will launch the SafeNet Ethernet Encryptor in three speeds: GbE, 100Mbps and 10Mbps. List prices will be around $50,000, $15,000-$20,000 and sub-$10,000 respectively. The devices will typically sit between a corporate router and the carrier network, carrying out 256-bit AES encryption.
Solterbeck acknowledged that SafeNet initially acquired Cylink with a view to migrating most of its customer base to IPsec encryption over time. However, the inherent advantages of L2, such as very low latency, zero overhead and ease of installation and management have kept the product line attractive to certain types of users.
Our customer base has driven us to devote more attention to L2 encryption, he said.
Launching devices for three different data rates is one of the ways SafeNet seeks to differentiate itself from its main competitor in L2 encryption, French vendor Thales Information Systems SA. Thales launched its Ethernet device in January this year, but only in the GbE range.
Another area of differentiation, according to Solterbeck, is in manageability. We have our Security management Console, which enables a company to manage all our encryption technologies from a single point, he said.
In its marketing for the SEE, SafeNet focuses on its video encryption capability, but Solterbeck stressed that this was not because the technology is targeted at providers of video-on-demand services.
We mention it because a couple of customers in government and the utilities are using the devices on their security video streams, he said.
